Moving On to Buenos Aires

After another unbelievable day in the bureaucratic jungle, Jamie just walked through the door with our Bolivian visas! With those, our new US passports and four tickets to Buenos Aires, we are leaving bright and early tomorrow morning! Although we’re not out of the woods completely, it seems we’re going to make it.

I will never forget what we just went through. If life is measured in memories, we just gained a lot of life. We gained new appreciation for what we can take on and work through. Jamie was amazing and I’m proud to be her partner and grateful she is my boys’ momma. Vaughn and Luke just took each day as it came with only the occasional request for ice cream or some playground time. We, as a family, circled the wagons, checked our priorities and got after changing our situation. It took good people here on the ground and a lot of moral support from back home. We are now more grateful for each other, for our health and safety and our friends and family.

We also lost a lot. We lost $1000s of stuff in nice outdoor gear and electronics, but those can be replaced. We lost a lot of private data in the form of an external hard drive and copies of personal documents. We are taking the steps to protect ourselves, but we lost a certain amount of financial and identity security. We lost and are still loosing a bunch of time, money and energy. It will take many more days and even weeks to put this all back together. We lost having a sense of wonder about Bolivia and hope for edifying adventures in this country. Instead we got more than a week of walking in smog at 12,000, three head/chest colds, endless hours of waiting in line and a continually being cold because our warm cloths were stolen and haven’t had time to find new ones. I’m sure Bolivia can be great and I know most of the people here mean well, but we are just ready to get out of here.

With the loss acknowledged, we’re moving on and doing it with our heads held high. We’re moving on with a greater appreciation for a number of things and one of those is that we don’t have stay here any more!

Post navigation

14 thoughts on “Moving On to Buenos Aires”

Have been so anxious to hear from you with the news you are leaving Bolivia. So much for Lake Titikaka…or however you spell it…Just glad you are all in one piece and can look back and laugh…someday! Know the rest of this adventure will much better…I think I have lost as much sleep as Jamie thru all this…Love, Desse

Glad to hear you guys are almost out! A friend of mime here at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City worked at the Embassy in La Paz for 2 years and says there are no good reasons to travel there. All of the same natural beauty can be experienced in other Andean countries with MUCH less hassle – due mainly to the Bolivian govt. I’ve been relating your story to her and she says unfortunately it is a rather common experience there. I look forward to hearing that you are safely in Argentina soon!

I couldn’t wait to hear that you had your necessary papers and were on your way out! I shall put at the top of my list of places to never visit – Bolivia! You are so brave and resourceful. We all love you so much! take care and have a wonderful time in Argentina! -Grandma Jody